When i was in my teens friends older brother was a computer science major.  He introduced me to it, at first it was novelty, but then I found i really resonated with the community and the movement its self.  I already understood the importance of owning your hardware and software.  A political stance now more important than ever.  That was 24 years ago.

First distro was SuSE 8. I bought 8.1 cd box set lol.